Loaches Online Forum

it has happened; after years of looking at all your hillstream tanks myself and Palaeodave are going to set one up. we have seen a very nice 180l tank on ebay so i have been looking powerheads to go on the manifold.

i saw http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-1600L-H-POWER ... m153.l1262 just now and wondered if you thought they would be ok, or if there is a particular brand which is recommended as being less generative of heat.

I use these on my rivertank http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AQUARIUM-POWER-HE ... 240%3A1318

My rivertank is 44gallon so about the same size as yours and I use two of them with no probs, the filter cages that come with them fit straight onto 20mm connectors and then you can just put your fluval type sponge inside.

I have two powerheads with three filter cages at the opposite end of the manifold and it works a treat.

you mean those cage things have the sponge stuffed over the top of them?

awesome. just bought two.

well, we got the rio 180 on ebay. 6 months old, all gear that comes with it as new still there.

£130.

bingo.

getting piping and substrate sorted this weekend.

too much excitment to handle........

The tank has been bought and is in place. Lee looks happy with it.

I got these sponges for my rivertank manifold:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:US:LISTG

I use them in those cages that come with the powerheads and they are good sponges and they can hold lots of crap before clogging up so the flow rate doesn't drop much

so you keep sponges inside the cages then? i was a tad confused this morning when they arrived.

did you try out the sponges and plastic stickle bricks stuff at all when you set it up? or go straight to using sponge? we have some large sponges we bought at the weekend which can be chopped up to fit inside.

It's a personal choice, but remember that air needs to flow in between the fibers of the sponge.
Pack it to your satisfaction but toy with what you think is best.
All tanks are different with added items.

Just keep the flow powerful and your fine.

KhuliKhilla wrote:so you keep sponges inside the cages then? i was a tad confused this morning when they arrived.

did you try out the sponges and plastic stickle bricks stuff at all when you set it up? or go straight to using sponge? we have some large sponges we bought at the weekend which can be chopped up to fit inside.

Ive had the sponge slipped over a piece of pipe so that the fish can get at the sponge and I have tried a couple of other things inside the cages other than sponge but I have to say that these new sponges are the best I have used, they are a very tight fit for the cages so that any muck is sucked deep into the sponge but food like bloodworm etc stays on the outside in the grills so that the fish can still get at it.

The other main reason I like these sponges is that they are such a tight fit they stop the shrimp entering the cage and getting into the manifold and then spat out of the powerheads, I have seen the homaloptera chasing, catching and eating very small cherry shrimp on a few occasions now so I am glad my rivertank is over run with them

Bought some wood up at Emma and Steve's shop the other week.





We'll be taking that internal filter out when we get it set up.

i would'nt Dave it's got a good enough current to really break the surface and its easy enough to put your manifold in with a few corner joints.
what is that wood mate, it's not bogwood.

mick

We've got a spare Fluval 205 to go on it. About the same capacity but will give us a bit more space (and be less ugly).

The wood is labelled Sumatra Driftwood. I expect it will float at first.

(People sometimes misunderstand me when I tell them I got wood at a fish shop.)

Nice looking 'insects' wood looking thingie me jig!

Keep the flow clean and your fine mate!

It does look a bit like some strange, contorted creature doesn't it!

Could you elaborate on keeping the flow clean?

Sure, when i mean clean i suggest keeping wood structures and boulders/rocks/pebbles clear so that your flow has no obstacles. Lower pebbles are fine, just adjust the power-heads to you preference within your design.